Gene Franklin
Gene Franklin is a young, wandering Mage, and an exceptionally skilled one at that. He has been traveling Ishgar for many years, and as such, is very knowledgeable on the different aspects and cultures of each nation in the continent. His dream, however, is to find a place he can call home. Appearance Gene is a young man of average height with golden eyes and fair skin. He has a short, blonde hair, which possesses thick horn-like protrusion on the top. His attire consists of an Arabian inspired outfit with a sash around his waist to hold his knife, black boots with blue stripes, and one earring in each ear. As another accessory he wears a small red rope tied around his neck. Personality Gene has a playful disposition, likely due to the fact that he never had a parental figure or much human contact to properly mature. He often plays practical jokes on others, and displays a fair amount of overconfidence in his abilities. When things aren't going his way, he's prone to tantrums, and can often escalate a situation without thinking things through. Despite possessing a wealth of trivial knowledge, and having an excellent memory, Gene can still forget important details, and has trouble remembering the specifics of plans. Magic and Abilities Lightning-in-a-Bottle: A unique Holder-Type Magic that Gene employs as his primary method of attack. This magic is unique amongst different forms of Lightning Magic, and execution. This magic appears in the form of a battle with bolts of lightning coursing through it. Gene normally covers this bottle with a brown cloth to prevent people from seeing the light it emits. When he uncorks the bottle, a bolt of lightning is released that travels at equivalent speeds to one. Actually, the lighting is far faster than any natural bolt of lightning, and even magical ones. The lightning strikes anyone that Gene designates a target through eyesight, and will relentless target them until all targets have been struck once. The bolt will also actively avoid any obstructions, acting almost like it's sentient, until it strikes Gene's target. When it hits its mark, the bolt passes through the target, scorching the hit area, and causing temporary numbing and paralysis. Afterwards, the bolt will continue to fly around the battlefield until Gene puts the cork back on. This bolt is fast enough to take out fifteen normal Mages in less than two seconds, then return to the bottle before they fell to the ground. This causes the lightning bolt to return to the inside of the bottle, and resets its targets. Even when it has been consumed by a Lightning element Slayer, the bolt will still return to the bottle, actually taking some of the Slayer's magical energy along with it. This is because Gene's primary bolt possesses unique properties which prevent it from being digested by Slayers, taking in magical energy from inside his target in order to keep its form. However, Gene will be left defenseless during this time, and will often need to retrieve the bolt before it can drain too much magic power from a target. The final major aspect of this magic is its ability to absorb other sources of lightning. This is also initiated through uncorking the bottle, which causes the bolt to absorbed inside. The new bolts will have the same properties in targeting and striking ability as the primary bolt, but will overall possess the same abilities and properties that the lightning bolt originally possessed. These bolts, when fired, do not return after striking a target. Gene considers this to be the ultimate form of Lightning Magic. However, this magic does have one glaring weakness. It cannot hold in the power of Red Lightning for more than two seconds. After that, the bottle begins to crack, and further stress causes it to shatter, and the lightning stored inside will be released. While the Red Lightning bolt and all others will find a designated target, if Gene had time to designate a target, he will be unable to reset the primary bolt's target, as it has no bottle to return to. However, the bolt will still continue to follow Gene, and he can transfer it to a new bottle, or the same one if it's been repaired via Arc of Time. Gene can still subtly manipulate the trajectory of the bolt of lightning when its been deprived of a bottle as well, allowing him to pluck it out of the air. The lightning has trouble being contained in a cracked bottle as well, and the stress on the cracks can cause it to shatter. Despite its faults, Gene still believes this to be the ultimate form of Lightning Magic. Enhanced Strength: '''Gene has substantial lower body strength, able to leap high into the air and far distances in a single bound. He also has enough upper body strength to hold up his entire body weight with one hand. In comparison to most other Mages, this is not impressive, but Gene's physical capabilities are at least equivalent to or greater than an Olympic athlete's. '''Enhanced Speed: Gene has much greater speed than the average human as well. He's capable of running at no less than 40 miles per hour for several hours. He often uses his speed and stamina to run away from those he robs. However, like his strength, his speed is meager when compared to most other mages. His reflexes make up for his natural speed, however. He's capable of reacting fast enough to catch a lightning bolt out of the air, whether it be his own another, and dodging ranged attacks aimed at him while left vulnerable from the usage of his lightning bolt. Enhanced Agility: '''Gene's greatest and most useful ability is his agility. He's very skilled in parkour and gymnastics, allowing him to jump from rooftop to rooftop while doing flips, and making fun of his chasers as he does so. He can jump up walls to reach higher locations, and can do flips in midair to avoid attacks. He can even do his gymnastics and parkour one-handed, as his other hand will be holding his bottle. '''Enhanced Durability: '''Gene's physical durability is his worst physical stat. Yet, when cornered, he can still withstand a beating from various street thugs he's stolen from, and had been withstanding assault as a child before he even learned to use his magic. He can also take more casual assaults from powerful S-Class Mages or above, even managing to continue fighting after taking grievous injuries out of a combination of his own physical fortitude and just plain old stubbornness. Equipment '''Bottle: This is the bottle that Gene uses to hold his lightning bolt in. It is made from metallic glass. This makes it much more sturdy than average glass, and much more difficult to break. It is stronger than steel, while still being transparent, and its sturdier make up, and more electrically conductive material, allows it to more effectively contain the lightning. Trivia Gene's first name is derived from Genie, often portrayed as magical beings that grant wishes and are stored in lamps. Gene's surname, Franklin, comes from Benjamin Franklin, who is known for his experiments with using lightning as an energy source, amongst many other things. Gene's appearance is based off of Alibaba Saluja from the Magi series. Gene's concept came from the Key and Peele sketch, "Lightning in a Bottle". Category:Male Category:Mage Category:Caster Mage Category:Lightning Magic User Category:Independent Mage